Skies of a Reverie
by Nielawen
Summary: A/P After the disappearance of Anakin, Padme receives a dream with a hopeful message... from Anakin himself.


Skies of a Reverie

_You've changed so much…_

You haven't changed at all. You're exactly the way I remember you in my dreams…

            Following the darkness she had closed her eyes to, she found herself in the warmth of a boundless light above her head. Tall blades of green grass, grown wild in the healthiness of a vast field, brushed her fingertips as she stood immobile in the meadow.

            The wind blew at her face, scattering the curls of her brunette hair, and with it arose the crashing tides of waterfalls. These, she knew with the unmistakable place that surrounded her, came from the breathtaking ridge that was shrouded beneath a rushing flow of crystalline water and mist. Where the grasslands ended at a rounded shoreline, a wide stream of the cascade's water flowed gently around her with distinct sounds of ripples where pebbles and larger stones barricaded the steady circulation.

            This was Naboo. She lifted her head and smiled, taking in all that the warm sunlight and breeze had to offer. Small shadows cast over her face as a flock of birds traced a path over the sun, and she opened her eyes to the sky above her.

            Cloudless, but alive. In the changing blow of the wind, the dexterity of iridescence moved with it. She was left to gape in awe as the spectacular plaster of art glistened like the bands of light that occasionally appeared in the northern sky during the expanse of nightfall.

            It wasn't ever common to witness such a spectacle on Naboo during the day, she noted in bewilderment. The sky flickered crimson in a streamer of quickly dominating light.

            "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

            Padmé turned her head behind her with a swift motion. Her eyes looked on with hard examination. "Anakin…"

            In response, the tall blonde smiled, and swept the grass with his patiently moving steps, watching his feet as he did so.

            "Your home planet is a stunning image. And yet you doubt its beauty by when the sun shines?" He grinned mockingly.

            Her expression remained the same. "What are you doing here? You left…" Her voices trailed off.

            "This isn't real," he said gravely. "It's a dream."

            Padmé looked around her. "I don't understand. Why would I be dreaming of… this place?" She had no questions to why he was included. She never stopped thinking about him, and her sleep was always an exception.

            "Don't you remember?" He gestured around the grasslands cheerfully. "This is our meadow. We spent hours here together." He nodded. "It was fun."

            She tilted her head to one side, unable to help staring at him in wonderment. "Are you real? Are you— Anakin— truly standing before me…" She reached up to touch his face, and met his soft cheek with a warm touch she was so familiar with. A smile slowly came across her face. "_Ani_…"

            "You still think about me lots, don't you?" He bent down and clipped a wildflower from a long vine of grass. "I mean, I guess the dream says it for itself. I wouldn't be here otherwise."

            "Of course," she said softly. "There isn't a moment of every day that passes you're not in my head. But I've never seen you in a pleasant image." Her eyes fell to the ground. "You abandoned me, and left me with thoughts of the worst of things that you might have become. It's been over a month since you disappeared, and every night, all I saw were these bad things in my sleep. Horrible things…"

            "This isn't like that. I promise." Anakin put the yellow flower in her hair.

            "Why are you here, then?"

            "That's something you need to ask yourself. You've created all of this in your mind, and it's significant to either the progress of your healing, your acceptance to let go of the bad images you see because of me… or the nearing of your self destruction." He braced his arms around her waist, but kept a decent distance from a closeness that may be too awkward for her. "No matter, you've come to see me as you remember me in the hopes that I'm still the same. I don't think it is your destiny to hurt to the point of your own depression. I think you're facing the fears that are trying to consume you." His smile was assuring, and his blue eyes twinkled by an extraordinary glint from a place unknown. "All who knew would be proud that you're still you. Brave. Unyielding. _You_."

            Padmé understood what he spoke of. But in a sense, there was some aspect that wasn't clear. She had so many questions that needed answers. "I need to know. Why did you go?"

            Anakin sighed with a sadness that she had only seen over the grave of his mother. "I don't come with answers, or an exposition with words of my true existence that you do not see. I only come with guidance in which you will turn to in your times of despair. Succeeding with what I offer will not, I'm afraid, bring a halt to your pain. This suffering will follow you to the end of your days. But you love me, the way I love you. There's hope within you, and if you strengthen that, it will be you that saves me."

            "I don't understand."

            "You aren't supposed to. Not yet." He put his hand on her abdomen. With a faint smile, he gazed up at her warmly. "But you will."

            Padmé overlapped his firm hand with her own, and her mouth gaped open in awareness. She felt as though she would cry, and shut her eyes, following steady, calming breaths. Anakin's hands fell from her stomach.

            "I have to go now."

            "No. Please stay with me!" She shook her head frantically. "I don't want to be alone anymore. I want you here with me!—"

            His palms came upon the crown of her head. He leaned in, and planted a kiss on her forehead, caressing her cheeks with his hand that did not bear the artificial attachments. "I will be with you, for the times that you need me. When the hopes of the future take hold of fate, I won't be in your presence any longer. You will have done what you needed to do, and you will know how to handle your worries to the betterment of our future. Until then, Padmé, I'll help you along the way. One more thing…"

            Padmé listened with attentiveness despite the sobs of despair that seemed to be dominating her inner self. "Tell me."

            Anakin took her hands in his, and stared deep into her eyes of soft brown. The touch of the mechanical hand was colder than the other, but it radiated a sincere warmth she recalled from their vows. "I truly am only a glimpse of how you remember me. But what I am to say right now still thrives within the heart of my true being." He lifted her chin, level to his face. "I love you, Padmé Skywalker, with all the strength of the entity that possesses me. But more than anything, these tears I make you cry are from a fault I regret ever making. More than anything, I'm sorry."

            His hands slipped from hers, and she finally felt the tears flow from her eyes with intensity that blurred her sight. "No…" She reached out for him, but he was gone from her range. She couldn't move— perhaps because she wasn't thinking of moving. It was a dream. A figment of her conscious mind. She had no power over her physical state, no matter how willful the strength she put into the attempt. 

            "Come back…come back…"

            She drew her head back as the stream, the waterfalls, and the meadow vanished. For a brief second, she stared up at the iridescent heavens above. The last of her clouded sight was in the presence of the banners of colors that glistened more powerfully than the sun that was so real upon her skin. 

            In an instant, it was gone. All she saw was blackness…

            And the indistinct, magical skies of a reverie.

~_CF_

I did this under the influence of a bunch of mushy love songs… hopefully it didn't turn out quite like that J. Please _please_ review. Thanks so much for reading!

            Oh, and I don't own Star Wars or anything pertaining to George Lucas' creations. My goal, however, is to find Hayden Christensen and make him MINE! … YeAH! That's my disclaimer! Goooo ME!    


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